Refrigeration appliances that have water or ice dispensers generally include a filter to remove impurities from the water supply before entering the refrigeration appliance equipment. Unfiltered water from a premises water source is typically fed via a filter inlet into a filter within the refrigeration appliance cabinet. The water is filtered within the filter and passed out of a filter outlet to whatever device is provided, such as an ice maker or a water dispenser.
As with most any such filtration system, as filtered particles are captured by the filter medium for a period of time, the filter should be cleaned and/or changed out. This period of time may vary dependent on the characteristics of the water provided based on the local water or treatment type, whether municipal or well water is employed, etc. In any event, periodically, the filter in such a refrigeration system should receive some attention from a user to maintain optimal performance.
Indicators have been provided to refrigeration appliance users in the form of lights on a front door panel of the refrigeration appliance. In such case, a light may be illuminated next to a textual indicator such as “Filter” to remind the user to check the filter periodically. Also, LCD displays on the front door panels have also been employed providing such a textual reminder.
However, with such a front door location, a user may simply press a reset button, ignore the light or message, or not remember where the instruction manual says the filter is located. In particular, with many filters located inside of the cabinet of the refrigeration appliances, the user may never even look at the filter when the light on the door is illuminated. Even if the indicator light is on an interior of the cabinet on a refrigeration control panel or the like, the same issues may apply if a user does not know where to look within the cabinet for the filter. Accordingly, the filter may not always be serviced as frequently as the manufacturer has recommended in spite of the indication provided to the user. Such issues also apply to filters used in other locations, such as whole-house filters, under-sink filters, etc., perhaps even more so when such filters are in hard to reach spaces. Therefore, an improved performance indication device for a filter assembly would be welcome.